Château d'Armailhac 2006

The 2006 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 89/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: Rain at véraison followed by a dry September gave classic, balanced wines with fine freshness, without the density of 2005.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pauillac. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

With a beautiful deep red color with ruby reflections, the 2006 vintage announces a very classic wine of beautiful freshness, with a precise and solid structure. When tasting, the nose is powerful and presents a subtle blend of very ripe red fruits, mixed with a nice oak character which begins to blend and results in notes of toast and vanilla. On the palate, Château d'Armailhac 2006 offers a beautiful construction: a clean opening, followed by good amplitude and a very fine evolution. The tannins are silky, the palate is distinguished. There is a lovely fruitiness, enhanced by subtle woody notes. The finish is long and elegant.

Blend of the 2006 vintage

Figures from the 2006 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 26 hl/haYield
• 43 yrsVine age
• 216,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

In stainless steel vats, vatting time 15 to 20 days.

Ageing

In oak barrels (25% new) for 15 to 16 months.

Food pairings

Fish and Shellfish: Fish cooked in red wine. Meats: Leg of lamb par excellence but also rare red meats, wild game, porcini mushrooms. Cheeses: All cheeses.

Terroir

Château d'Armailhac lies in the northern part of the commune of Pauillac. It has 69 hectares of vines. Château d'Armailhac is made up of three groups of parcels: the Levantines and Obélisque plateau (26 hectares), an extension of the celebrated Carruades plateau of Mouton, made up of light and very deep gravel, the terroir of choice for the Cabernets; the Pibran plateau (19 hectares), whose gravel rests on a partly clay-limestone subsoil, hence the finesse and elegance characteristic of the wines of Château d'Armailhac; and the Béhéré gravel rise (5 hectares), of light gravel which can nonetheless run down to 3 metres deep.